Continuing on from yesterday, the ancient clan of vampires; the Forgotten, have awoken on a mysterious arcane island in the sky, populated with native descendants of their human slaves. They reclaimed their land and provided food for their servants, but now face the problems of magical insanity and space restriction. Hopefully they can get this island moving once more.

Delving into the tomes, you spend the months reciting and researching the spells your ancestors used. Their complexity grows with power, but the basics you grasp quite quickly. Living creatures generate mana, so you would have to drink blood to replenish your stores of mana. Not an issue with your sizable flock. You understand basic prestidigitation and arcane tricks such as moving a pound of material and producing floating lights. Still, it's a gateway to other spells.

>>35008641The humans worship you as gods. It's a corruption of how your slaves ago saw you, compounded over centuries. So they defend you fiercely with no restraints.

The orchards provide all the food for your humans, and they provide you with blood. Their village is large enough to house a 1000 people, so no lack of space there. However, the fruit they eat is poisonous so they're all going insane.

>>35008901Consulting with your advisers will let you know their concerns and possible ideas. I'm considering blowing it out to an actual relationship dynamic next time but for now they're just Simcity style helpers.

Natural science opens up Biology, Physics, and Chemistry. Could help if you want to make the scientific approach, rather than the magical one.

Last thread came upon two different ideas for solving the poison issue; 1) 'skyblocking' the orchards away from the raw mana in the ground, or 2) Learning about the crystal network so you can manipulate where the mana goes on the island.

>>35010024Consult with the Chieftan about the nature of the gathering. Offer to give these villagers some counseling. I think it's about time the Necropolis of the Forgotten starts taking mental health issues seriously.

Rolling for further Crystal Network research. We need to divert Mana so we can have some untainted soil.

>>35010122Going down to see what all the commotion is about, the people seem to be celebrating with festivities. When questioned, they say it is their full moons celebration; when the two moons in the sky are both in full visibility. It is a good omen to them.

The thought arises that such festivities might interrupt productivity, or lead to death and insanity. Maybe you should consider whether this is a good idea or not.

>>35010780Oh, I just remembered Vampire Mysticism is supposed to be Average, not Poor. Said that last thread. I forgot to change that.Alright, slight retcon from previous post.

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>rolled 13

You seem to have made a breakthrough in your research. The controls of the network are clear to you now and you can manipulate the network from the neuron as you see fit. Right now that only entails mana influx and exflux, but it's enough to redirect where the veins lie.

Looking into the tomes and observing the populace, it seems the effect of oversaturation has both beneficial and averse side effects. Your people seem to live longer than average humans, and have empowered abilities. However their minds are addled and insanity often takes them long before old age does. In terms of the plants, they seem to grow more rampant and with greater speed, but specimens you have experimented upon show signs of... sentience? It is unclear, but evidently monstrous.

>>35011228>>35011298>Rolled 12With your understanding of the network, you spend some time rerouting the mana veins around the island. It won't solve the issue of latent mana in the soil, but diverting them away from the trees and fruit may help in unpoisoning them. It'll take some time for the effects to show up though.

>Rolled 17The over-abundance of mana in their systems is to blame for their rampant insanity, so it stands to reason using up that mana may help alleviate their health issues. You could do this by extraction (if you knew how), teaching your humans magic spells to expend it, or by draining it back into the crystal network.

-==Year 4, 9 months==--

13 die of insanity. 1 come of age.>Your human count is 666. What the hell.

>>35011510>>35011919>Rolled 15Extracting mana seems to be a delicate operation, requiring a facility to ensure safety. Luckily, the crystal neuron could serve as an appropriate facility for extraction. It also occurs to you that you may be able to drain mana out of living things much like you do blood. This might present the opportunity to produce a specialised caste of Vampires.

>>35011525You decide the fastest route is the best and will siphon their power back into the network. It takes quite a while and some humans are more resistant than others, but you lead all of your people to the neuron and drain them one by one into the crystals by operating the neuron and producing small influx veins. At the end of it, your people seem to be much mentally healthier, though physically weaker. The neuron also seems far more powerful.[Crystal Neuron now gives +5]

>>35012171The chieftan is overjoyed their beloved gods have provided for them. You say jump, and these people ask how high. With the minds unaddled and the plants slowly untainting, he suggests you start looking into developing better technologies.

>Rolled 20The concept of empowering yourselves revolves around charging you with enough mana to produce unthinkable powers. You anticipate this kind of Vampire would be capable of incredible abilities, from casting gargantuan spells to wasting entire squads of enemies single-handedly. Normally you would have to sacrifice people to get the mana, but your Crystal Network should be sufficient for the transition.[Perfect Vampires unlocked]

>>35012361>Rolled 16You lead some of your clan to the neuron and begin the empowerment. They emerge some time later; bodies chiselled to perfection, minds sharp as a tack, and brimming with supernatural power. They can stand in the sunlight and inspire fear at a glance.

OP, if we research organization or social sciences or something can we get two actions per turn? Only being able to build or research is kind of a drag, especially now that we have perfect vampires and willing construction workers.

We could create a dedicated scholar and craftsman caste to facilitate this, I guess.

You step outside, enjoying the sunlight in your perfected form, to see this 'cloud'. It still seems to be fair way away from your island. It doesn't seem like a cloud to you; more like a swarm. It doesn't seem to be heading for your island right now, but you don't like the look of it.

>>35013879Your vampires are unfamiliar with this swarm. They hadn't experienced any creatures like this. Neither has the Chieftan.

>>35013997>>35014018You'll either need more population (at each 1000), more regions (island is your only one), or specific buildings to facilitate more actions. Researching social sciences will help you construct said buildings.

So you can vote for Natural Science, Formal Science, or suggest a new turn action.

You spend your time investigating sociology and the actions of the community. After a few months of observation and research, you think you have a good grasp of how to order around your people and society. Your Necropolis may function as a good administrative building.

-==Year 6==--8 come of age.

The swarm seems to have moved fairly close to the island. From your view, it seems to be made up of insectoid creatures around a central object that is beyond your perception. It is still around a mile away from your island.

>>35014848>>35014894The clan doesn't feel that this swarm is much of a threat. It moves slowly and seems to be just wild nonsense. But even it was organised, surely your clan could overwhelm such paltry foes.

>>35014938i think we should turn the most magically adept mofo in this joint into a super wizard that can rain death onto anything, you said these humans sometimes show extraordinary magical prowess due to the mana waste - are any of them doing that now

>>35015047Doing that with perfected vampires is a better bet than teaching some half-tard tribal how to set all our shit on fire.

Magic tends to make the people insane anyway. We should study it before we cast fist, and we should get more than one action per turn before we commit to long-term research for a single wizard's worth of weapons.

You rearrange and reestablish many aspects of your own Necropolis base to better suit your administrative needs. With the Vampires forming the governing body, you should be able to order your slaves around more efficiently.

-==Year 6, 3 months==--9 come of age.

It is fairly early in the day when your silence is broken by the shrieking of human voices and a buzzing of wings. Looking outside, you can see the insects appear to be attempting to assault your island. You have nothing in the way of defences, so they easily manage to land on the island and start attacking your civillians. They have wooden tools, not much for defence, but the insects just seem to be using natural weapons.

Alright, think I kind of have a system I like.Posing military action is a Turn action.Military scores are rolled against each other.Weapons and defences will give bonuses to your Military score.Units will determine amount of enemies killed. Type determines die roll, amount determines multiplier (NUM*0.1).

If you win, enemy loses many soldiers (x1) where you lose few (x0.5). If you lose, you lose many (x1) and they lose few (x0.5).A draw results in equal degree of loss (x1).Doubling a roll in Defending means the winner loses no troops.Doubling a roll in Attacking means massive loss to the enemy (x2)

Although the slaves fair badly against the bugs, your Perfect Vampires are more than a match for them. You lack ballistic weapons, but your enhanced strength allows you to leap far enough to engage in melee combat, and you tear more than one from the skies and protect your people.

88 bugs die.

Your efforts barely manage to scratch the hive, which you estimate to be beyond a thousand members strong. Your 80 Vampires are powerful, but are in a bad position to fight. The bugs retreat back to their swarm, just beyond the range of your island.

>>35015635crits in a first roll only system will be rareif this is by design we may as well just wait out every fight, wasting 50 rounds of you posting, us posting, and waiting for your reply just to get through one battle is a good way to kill the quest

Wishing to fight back, you dive into the art of Material spells. These affect the physical world and revolve around manipulating matter. Physical spells may allow you to perform telekinesis or empower your troops. Sensory may trick the senses, rendering some thing invisible or producing sourceless sound. Elemental spells allow you to conjure matter and energy into being, for destruction or creation.You grasp basic material spells.

The insects have not attacked yet. They seem to be busying themselves inside their great hive. It is a swirling mass of biological matter, and of great concern to your humans. They still have utter faith in you, their gods.

>>35016083>>350163592nd>DIPLOMACY: Negotiate with Hive (d20+10)also can we make it so actions come at a price civ style, say diplomacy requires 30 vamps, material spells require 50 vamps and a separate one for humans

I may consider that, but I'd have to fudge the numbers out on paper first to ensure balance.

>>35016359>>35016466>Rolled 18You decide to opt for the Diplomatic route, if possible. You, and a cadre of servants and Vampires, stand at the precipice of your island, looking over at the swirling hive and shout over greetings. At first there is no response, but a small assortment of insects soon seems to move within range of you. They appear to be wasp-like in appearance; at least 20 of them to match your diplomatic group, with the larger creatures in the back. The ones in the front appear to be much more colourful than their protectors.

They seem to be awaiting further responses.

>1) Demand they leave.>2) Inquire as to their identity.>3) Introduce selves, humbly.>4) Introduce selves, confidently.>5) Wait for them to speak.>6) Order a surprise attack.>Write in

>>35016504You ask the insects for their names and what they call themselves. Unluckily, they don't seem to speak your language. They chitter and chatter with a surprising range of sounds, but none of it too comprehensible for you. Regardless of this linguistic barrier, you manage to observe that the creatures do seem eager to talk. It could be a sign that their aggression may be born of desperation rather than malice.

You spend a bit more time attempting to converse, but only manage the broadest of communications. You feel as if this was mostly a waste of time, but you suppose you may have learnt some possible things about them.